Latest Post

Orton Effect

Something that I stumbled upon, and have never heard of. Does any one know anything about it, or have LB example? Its something that took my fancy so I reckon that I am going to try to figure it out. I reckon that the babies were made for things like this...

Pathography, I am new to using a Lensbaby so I am not sure how to get the "Orton" effect using a Lensbaby.

However, on the online photo image editor, www.picnik.com, there is a creative effect you can apply called "Orton-ish" It's located under the "Create" tab under "Effects." I used "Orton-ish" on the photo I've attached of my pug mix, Lucy.

You can use the same technique as with film, two images, overexposed the same way, and in your image editing program place your out of focus image on tip of your in focus image as a layer and choose multiply as your blending mode. Of course this means always taking at least two images of your scene and always using a tripod. Another method is to use a single image to create a layer, now opening up the effect to any image you have in your collection.

See PCIN.net for complete information, several Benders have used this effect in the past .....but it slips my mind where to point you to, maybe use search under Orton effect ?

I manged one, I think. Done the proper way, in camera with two differently exposed images. The first was shot at f11, the second and f2 and pulled out of focus slightly. Then layered in PS- I'll need to work on it a bit more though. Thanks for all the input.
Plastic optic by the way, figured it would add to the effect

Hello Patrick - Below are two early LBO & LB2 (respectively) images that were treated using an Orton approach. The first one is a Digital Orton, which can be easily done with a single image and Photoshop. The second is one where I accidentally shot two images in rapid succession with the LB2, one in focus and the other as I let the focus drift/relax. Please see instructions below:

Instructions:
1. Begin by opening a .jpg file of your own.
2. In the Layers panel, rename this Original layer to "Blur" Layer by double-clicking the layer name.
3. Create a duplicate of the layer by dragging it down to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
4. Rename this new layer "Multiply" Layer. This layer should be the top most layer. If it's not, move it above the Blur layer.
5. Hide the Multiply layer from view by clicking the eye icon next to that layer's name.
6. Select the bottom "Blur" Layer and choose Image > Adjustments > Levels.
7. Set your three slider values, from left to right, at 31, 1.8, and 194. (just a suggestion to get going as it really depends somewhat on the brightness of the original image; feel free to experiment).
8. Click OK. In case you are wondering, the idea is to make this blur image lighter than normal.
9. Add a second effect to this layer by selecting Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
10. Set the value of the blur to 20-25 and click OK. The image is now seriously out of focus. Just the way you want it. (Again feel free to experiment).
11. Make the Multiply layer visible again by clicking on the eye and select/highlight this layer now.
12. You need to alter the tonality of this image, but you'll do so using the Brightness/Contrast found under Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast).
13. Set the Brightness to a value of 50. As bad as this looks right now, these changes are necessary so the blending mode works.
14. With the top layer active, select the Blend Mode pop-up menu on top of the layer stack and change the Blend Mode from Normal to Multiply. TA DAAAA! The blending of the two images through the Multiply Blend Mode gives you a soft, dreamy quality. To alter the effect slightly, adjust the Opacity slider of the top layer to taste. The Opacity slider is next to the Blend Mode pop-up menu.
15. You will add one more step to this image and call it done. Select the Blur layer one more time, and select Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Try either Gaussian or uniform noise (try setting a value from 4 to 12). This adds a gritty, film grain look to the image. Again, experiment with the Noise value until you have something you are happy with.
16. Flatten the image, save the file to a new name with maybe “Orton” to indicate effect. That’s it.